Baked Spaghetti

Just in case you were wondering, no, I haven’t dropped off the face of the Earth. I haven’t stopped cooking either. I’ve just been otherwise occupied for the past few weeks. BeeBop and I both took a nice long vacation that started with a U.S. Navy reunion in Charleston, South Carolina, followed by a week-long visit from our beautiful grandkids! We’ve been so busy we didn’t know whether we were coming or going for a few days there.

You know I’ve said before how I have no problem taking the occasional shortcut in the kitchen, right? Well, when you have important visitors like grandchildren it’s even more urgent to get in and out of the kitchen in a hurry. We never want to miss a minute with them when they’re here! It’s also important to make recipes that are kid-friendly. This recipe fits both those descriptions. I’ve taken a big shortcut by using a jarred spaghetti sauce and you can bet your bottom dollar that kids love this Baked Spaghetti. While the spaghetti bakes, you can fix up a nice tossed salad and some garlic bread and you’re good to go!

Start by putting a large pot of salted water on to boil and preheating the oven to 350.

While the water is heating, cook the ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring until it’s nicely browned with no visible pink color remaining. Drain off any excess fat and return the ground beef to the pan. Add the spaghetti sauce, salt and pepper, and stir that together with the ground beef. Bring the mixture to a bubble, cover it and reduce the heat to a simmer. I always use Ragu Traditional style spaghetti sauce for this recipe. It’s a kid favorite and contains lots of veggies. Always a bonus.

By this time, the water should be boiling so you can drop in your pasta and let it cook according to the package directions.

When the pasta is done, drain it and start assembling the casserole. Put about 1/3 of the meat sauce on the bottom of your casserole dish, followed by about half the cooked pasta and half the cheddar cheese. Add another third of the sauce and the remaining pasta. End with the rest of the sauce and top with the remaining one cup of cheddar and the parmesan cheese on top.

Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving. And, by the way, it’s easier to serve if you cut it into squares.

Layers of meat sauce, spaghetti and cheese baked until bubbly. Very kid-friendly!

Serves: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

1 ½ pounds lean ground beef

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground black pepper

8 oz. pasta

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Begin by putting a large pot of salted water on to boil and preheating the oven to 350.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook, stirring, until ground beef is brown and no pink color remains.

Drain any excess fat and return to the pan.

Add the spaghetti sauce, salt and pepper, stirring well with the ground beef.

Bring the mixture to a bubble, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer.

By this time, the water should be boiling so you can drop in your pasta and cook it according to the package directions.

When the pasta is done, drain it and start assembling the casserole.

Put about 1/3 of the sauce on the bottom of a casserole dish, followed by about half the cooked pasta and half the cheddar cheese.

Add another third of the sauce and the remaining pasta.

End with the rest of the sauce and top with the remaining one cup of cheddar and the Parmesan cheese on top.

Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool a bit before serving.

Notes

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Other baked spaghetti recipes you might enjoy from around the internet:

I’ve only started making something like this about a year ago, and I had never even heard of it before then. We make something more like “spaghetti pie” but it’s more or less the same kind of thing. I like yours better–it’s a bit more straightforward and I’ve only had so-so results with the various versions of ours. Thanks! I love your blog too.

I made this for dinner tonight using angel hair pasta and it was great, I really enjoyed it, so simple, but so tasty. My two year old loved it too and he doesn’t usually like tomato based sauces. Will definitely be making it again, thanks for sharing.

Do you think I could double the recipe for “Baked Spaghetti “to serve 12 people. We’re all going to the beach house soon and this would make a great recipe unless you could recommend something else. I just devour your web site. Thanks.